NCAT HAS ENOUGH AIRCRAFT TO TRAIN STUDENTS- RECTOR
The Nigerian College of Aviation Technology(NCAT) Zaria has not less than twenty serviceable aircraft which are enough at any given time to meet the training demand of the students. They include,Diamond,Tampicos and Beech Baron58.
Rector of the College,Capt.Alkali Moddibo who made this known while speaking with members of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents in Zaria said the College was looking at getting more Diamond aircraft seven of which were supplied in 2020”and this year,we will be taking delivery of two of the Diamond aircraft,double and single engine.”
“We intend to take delivery of more airplanes this year. We will take one in February and another in April. The Diamonds will be about 15 in all. They are advanced cockpit; we have the latest technology that you can find in any machine in it and it uses Jet A1, which is cheaper than the Aviation Gas (AvGas). Aviation gas is not easy to come back, we have to import it into Nigeria and that is what the Tampicos are using.”
“It gladdens me to tell you that we are moving another step higher. We are thinking of getting Magnus, which is another airplane that is manufactured in Hungry. We have been to their factory with NCAA and the Ministry of Aviation. We conducted our technical inspection; sooner or later, we will start to have those machines here.”
According to Capt.Moddibo,the advantages of that machine are that; one, it is made from carbon fibre, very light and it uses Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) like the one you use in your car. So, from AvGas, we went down to Jet A1 and we are also going into PMS. It is going to be less expensive to run with that aircraft.
He said something unique about that aircraft is that it has a parachute of its own”. If you lose an engine, there is a parachute that you will pull and the engine will come out and the pilot will be able to land the aircraft with that parachute. With this, you have saved a life and the equipment. The parachute is there for you in case you lose an engine and the aircraft has only one engine.”
Speaking on aging personnel, he explained the College had been bringing in young officers on continuous basis to replace the old ones that are retiring. ‘But when you you retired, but not tired, we still take you on contract to impact your knowledge and the experience you have on the new generation of instructors.”
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On the issue of Covid-19,” it is a pandemic and we have been coping with it by following the protocols laid down by the Federal Government, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the World Health Organisation (W.H.O).”
Although, we know that we have very limited cases of Covid-19, but Nigeria and other countries have been mandated to make sure it follows all the protocols laid down. We cannot take it as a guarantee and let loose our guards.
“ We have to keep on obeying the protocols until the pandemic is over. Even with the protocols, there are a limited number of students you can have in a class at a go, but I want to tell you that we are doing very well with that.”
